Something To Return To
by iheartvesper
Summary: When work is no more between them, will they finally give room for feelings?
1. Chapter 1

**This is a sequel to my other story, 'Not All Change is Bad'. I suggest you go read it if you haven't already, it's only three chapters long. But if you're feeling lazy and don't want to read it, I guess you can still understand what's going on.**** This story will be five chapters long (if there's enough interested readers for it). Please review and tell me what parts you liked and/or didn't like, feedback is important for a writer. :) Or you can just drop a word or two to let me know you enjoyed it. Okay, I'll stop talking now.**

--

"What are you doing here?"

Booth woke up with a start on the couch in Brennan's office. He jumped up and found his former partner looking at him from the doorway, smirking.

"What do you think I'm doing here? I'm taking you to lunch."

Brennan walked to her desk nonchalantly and grabbed a file.

"Really? Because to me it looked like you were sleeping on my couch."

"Well that's because I waited for you to be finished with whatever you were working on on the platform. And I kinda dozed off. So… lunch?"

Brennan pretended to read the file that she had grabbed and tried to keep from smiling. The truth was, now that she didn't see Booth every day, she often found herself hoping that he would come by the lab or her apartment. The strangest part was that she didn't even try to deny that she missed him.

"Bones? Are you listening to me?" Booth had come closer during her musings and was now waving his hand in front of her face.

"Yes, Booth, I am listening to you. Unfortunately I'm too busy to go to lunch right now." As much as she would've wanted to go with him, she knew that her schedule for the day was full.

"Aw, come on, Bones! It's lunch, it will take an hour off your time."

"Exactly. Do you know what I can do in an hour? Plenty of work."

"Why won't you ever go to lunch with me?"

Brennan's eyes widened. "We go out to eat all the time!"

"Yes, but it's always late at night."

"So you're saying that sharing a meal at daytime is different from sharing a meal at nighttime?"

"Bones," he started almost shyly, putting his hands in his pockets, "it's been three weeks since we got split up. I used to have every lunch with you, so it's been a little lonely lately. Don't you think you could take the time to go eat with me just this once? For old times' sake?"

Brennan felt a pang of guilt in her chest. Had she really been blowing him off like that? She looked him in the eye and thought about her schedule. Surely she could rearrange her tasks for the day and make some time to go with him.

He could see how she was thinking things through in that big brain of hers. He also saw the guilty look in her eyes, which he hadn't meant to put there. But since it seemed that he was getting through to her, he decided to go with it.

Brennan put down the file. "Fine, I'll go with you."

"Really?" he asked excitedly and almost childishly.

"Yes, I think I can rearrange my schedule," she answered laughing at his childlike reaction.

With a whole new spark in his eyes he helped Brennan out of her lab coat and hung it up on the rack. And soon they were on their way to the diner.

--

Brennan was back at her desk, replying to emails on her laptop. It was seven at night and she was one of the few people still working. Just as she was deleting junk mail from her inbox, something that Booth had said at lunch popped into her head. It had been some silly story about pigs, something that could never happen in real life, but she had laughed none the less. Thinking about it made her laugh again, and she checked that no one outside her office could see her laughing to herself. When she had composed herself again, her thoughts drifted to Booth. She wondered how he could make her so cheery even when he wasn't in the room. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Why did she get so distracted by him these days? The three years they had been partners she had always managed to get her work done, but now that they were separated she had more trouble focusing than ever. It didn't make any sense. She had worked a long time before Booth had come along, and she hadn't had any problems then.

And that's what made her realize it. Booth had made a huge impact on her life without her even noticing it. He had come, incorporated himself into her life and turned everything upside down.

She opened her eyes in disbelief. The more she though about it, the more it made sense. She had gotten so used to him being there that now that he wasn't, she was lost. She _needed_ him.

"Dr. Brennan?"

She jumped at the sound and saw Cam standing in the doorway.

"I just wanted to inform you that we have been asked to identify the remains of most likely a Chinese diplomat. The body will arrive tomorrow."

"Oh, okay… Thank you, Cam," Brennan replied distractedly.

Cam took a closer look at the anthropologist. "Uh, not that it's any of my business, but.. are you feeling okay, Dr. Brennan? You look a little pale."

Brennan looked up at her with what she thought was a reassuring smile. "I'm feeling fine, Dr. Saroyan. Thank you for the information, I'll start working on the remains as soon as they arrive tomorrow."

Cam figured that she wasn't really fine but decided to drop it. "Okay. I'm heading home, so good night."

"Good night."

When the sound of Cam's heels clicking against the floor became more distant, Brennan was deep in thought again. Now that she had had her big revelation, she didn't know how to interpret the information. Let alone what she should do with it. Feeling overwhelmed by the situation, she shut off her computer and turned off the lights. On her way out of the Jeffersonian she passed the security guard, who was blissfully unaware of the brainstorm that had just occurred in the anthropologist's office.


	2. Chapter 2

**I want to thank** _MadeOfStars, fanHANNAH, iamwriter, KristieM, Andromeda03, flanmaja, StellaDiMaggiolino, anteffy1, Chasefan, acceb, Tennischica, BxBforever, bellechanteuse, CSI-4077 and GGjunkie33_ **for reviewing the first chapter. Here's the next one, enjoy...**

--

Brennan squinted against the sunlight that was pouring from between her curtains. There was a shrill sound invading her ears and for a while she didn't know what was going on. Finally she came to her senses and became conscious of her beeping alarm clock. Normally waking up early was easy for her, but now that she had tossed and turned the whole night it was almost unbearable. She had laid in the bed thinking about the relationship between Booth and her.

She finally gathered the energy to get up and start getting ready for the day. On her way to the bathroom she shook her head at her girlish behaviour. Since when had she started thinking about men like some teenager? She was a grown woman, she should do better than this. That was when she decided to handle things in a grown-up way. This was Booth after all, and she knew him. There was nothing to be afraid of.

When she was ready an hour later, she stepped out of her door in a confident manner. She would go see him tonight, after work.

--

Brennan stood outside his apartment and felt all her confidence slipping away. For some reason she was so nervous that her hands were actually sweating. She scoffed at the ridiculousness of the situation and knocked the door briskly. When Temperance Brennan made up her mind, there simply was no turning back.

When the door finally opened, it wasn't Booth that was standing in the doorway. It was a petite, blonde woman.

"Can I help you?" the smiling young woman asked.

Brennan frowned. "Is Booth here?" she asked slowly.

Brennan's scrutinizing gaze unnerved the woman a bit, but she tried to disguise it behind her friendly smile. "Yes, um, he's in the bedroom getting ready. I'm sure you can come inside and wait, if you'd like." She stepped aside to let her in, but Brennan didn't move.

"Are you his girlfriend?"

The woman gave an awkward laugh. Before she had a chance to say anything, Booth appeared from the bedroom, adjusting his T-shirt. When he saw the two women standing in the doorway, he halted.

"Hey… Bones. What, um, are you doing here?" he asked awkwardly.

Brennan suddenly felt embarrassed for showing up unannounced. She cleared her throat. "Nothing, I can see that you are busy." Feeling out of place, she resorted to professionalism. She turned to the woman. "I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Dr. Temperance Brennan," she said and shook her hand. "Booth and I work together," she added out of habit.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Samantha Greene," the woman said, smiling brightly. "But everyone calls me Sam."

Brennan nodded. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Sam, but I'd better get going. Have a nice night." Without taking another look at Booth she turned and walked down the hall. When she reached the stairs, she heard Booth calling her name. She turned around and found Booth leaning out of his doorway.

"We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure," she responded. And then he closed the door, and she was left in the hallway wondering how she had ended up making a fool of herself.

--

The next day she was working on the platform identifying a limbo victim, which was her usual task these days. Zack was working next to her, his own identification in process. After last night, Brennan had decided that today she would concentrate on work only. There was no room for personal issues in the lab.

She studied every single bone on the table meticulously. She spent the whole day identifying, not once taking a break. It was five o'clock when Angela decided to step in.

"Bren, you do realize that you haven't eaten anything the whole day, right?"

Brennan didn't look up from the rib bone she was holding. "Yes, Angela. It's fine, I had a big breakfast."

Angela sighed. "Yeah, you must be so full right now."

Brennan glanced at her briefly but didn't say anything.

"Fine. If you want to starve to death, go ahead." Angela waited for a reaction, but didn't get any. Finally she had had enough so she took the bone out of her friend's hand. Brennan had no chance to protest when Angela looked at her sternly. "Bren, what's wrong?"

She frowned. "What? Nothing's wrong."

"Don't give me that crap. I can see that you're not alright. You might as well just tell me now, because I'll find out eventually anyway."

Brennan sighed and rubbed her forehead with her wrist. "There's nothing _wrong_ with me, quite the opposite in fact. I've identified four bodies from limbo today."

Angela just stared at her. After a while she sighed with resignation. "Okay. Obviously you don't want to tell me what's bothering you. But please know that whenever you want to talk to me about something, anything, I'll listen," she said gently, handing the bone she had been holding hostage back to her.

Brennan took the bone. "Of course, Ange," she responded softly. "That goes both ways."

Suddenly Hodgins ran up the stairs to the platform. "Come on, Ange. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Now, promise me that you won't stay here all night," she said to Brennan.

"I promise," she assured with a smile on her face.

After they had said their goodbyes, Hodgins and Angela walked toward the sliding doors of the lab. Brennan watched them leave, hand in hand and with happy looks on their faces. For a while she let her mind wander to her own love life. She'd never had such a deep relationship as her friends did. Her relationships with men had mostly been about sex, not about friendship or love. Maybe there just wasn't anyone for her out there.

She realized she had been staring at the door and quickly pulled herself together again, getting rid of the dark thoughts in her head. She decided to pack away the bones and go home early today. When she had gathered all her things, including some files in case she'd feel like doing paperwork at home, she headed out to her car. Once she got to the parking garage she fumbled with her car keys and all the folders she had been carrying scattered to the ground. She growled in frustration and bent down to pick them up.

"Need help?"

She jumped at the sound and was instantly alert, preparing herself for a fight if necessary. But when she turned her head to see who was talking to her, she relaxed again.

"What are you doing here, Booth?" she asked, still picking up the papers without looking up.

"I went to your office. When I got over the shock that you weren't there, I asked Stan and he told me you had just left," he explained, picking up a paper that had ended up further away from the others.

"Who is Stan?" she asked absentmindedly.

"Come on, Bones. Stan is one of your security guards. You know, you should really start learning people's names."

Once she had gathered all the papers in the right folders, she shoved them in the backseat of her car.

"Was there something you wanted?" she asked, still avoiding eye contact.

Booth placed the single piece of paper on top of the others, getting closer to Brennan in the process. She took an involuntary step back and immediately wondered why she was acting so strangely.

"No, I just thought I'd ask why you came by yesterday. Was it something important?" he asked casually.

She wasn't good at lying. She knew that, and tried to get as much sincerity in her voice as possible.

"No, not at all. I just came by to ask you to dinner, but you were busy, so…" she trailed off.

"Okay," Booth nodded.

"Is she your girlfriend? Samantha?" Brennan blurted out the question without thinking, and suddenly really wished she hadn't. She wasn't too keen on hearing the answer to that question.

Booth chuckled. "My girlfriend? No. This guy from work set me up on a blind date."

Although Brennan was oddly relieved by the answer, she was also irritated by Booth's casual attitude. She had finally caught up to her own reality and admitted to herself that she was having definite feelings toward Booth, and he was standing there laughing and telling about his date. She knew her thinking was completely irrational; there was no way he could know what had been on her mind lately. But still it bothered her. Shouldn't he be the gut guy?

Booth saw a flicker of frustration in her eyes and wondered if he had done something to piss her off. He decided to probe some more.

"I don't know if we'll see each other again. She wasn't really my type," he explained, looking at the ground.

Brennan caught herself before she could point out that blondes were usually his type and settled for a more neutral response.

"Well, it's none of my business." She slammed the car door she had been leaning on shut. "I'm going to head home now. Lots of paperwork," she pointed at the stack of folders in her car.

Booth observed Brennan's odd behaviour. She seemed distant and eager to get away from him. She didn't appear to be mad. Usually when she was mad she would make it perfectly clear, but now she was avoiding him. That was why he figured that it had to be something else, something bigger. He decided to let it drop for now and bring it up at another time.

"Okay. Good night, and drive safely."

"I will."

He turned around and walked out of the parking garage. Brennan got in the car and when Booth was out of sight, she buried her face in her hands. She was in way too deep now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to** _flanmaja, MadeOfStars, seeleyswifey, CSI-4077, Andromeda03 and fanHANNAH_ **for reviewing the last chapter. Your reviews really brighten up my day. :) Here's chapter three, enjoy!**

--

The next morning Booth was driving to work. His thoughts were on Brennan and the way she had acted the previous night. She had seemed stressed and anxious about something, but he just couldn't come up with any reason for it. He was sure that there was something she wasn't telling him. He stopped at a red light and glanced at the seat next to him. He had already gotten used to her not sitting there anymore, but that didn't mean that he didn't miss her or want her there. Driving in silence was surprisingly boring. The angry honk from the car behind him brought him back from his reminiscing, and he sped up again.

Once Booth got to his office, he immediately pushed the speed-dial button number two on his cell and waited for an answer.

"_Brennan._"

"Hey, Bones. Are you at work?"

"_Of course, it's eight o'clock._" He heard her say something to Zack in the background.

"A busy day?"

"_Always._"

Booth was again surprised by her curtness. There was definitely something going on.

"Well, I'll come by the lab on my lunch hour, so you'll have to make some room on your schedule for that."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end. "_Why?_"

"Because there's something I want to talk about." He heard some rustling from the background.

"_Can't it wait? The FBI sent another body here, it's kind of urgent._"

Now she was avoiding him? There was no way that he would let her do that.

"No, it can't. I'll see you at twelve." With that, he hung up. He threw his cell on the desk and leaned back in his chair. Now he would just have to prepare himself for the confrontation.

--

Brennan and Cam were in the autopsy room, discussing over the charred corpse that laid on the steel table. As Cam was going over her findings, Brennan kept glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Is there somewhere you need to be, Dr. Brennan?" Cam inquired.

Brennan fixed her gaze on the remains. "No. So this locket was burned into the flesh?"

Cam frowned at the anthropologist's uncharacteristic behaviour, but went on anyway. "Yes. There were some particulates on it, I'll let Hodgins take care of them."

Brennan nodded. "Good. Do you need me for anything?"

"Not right now. I just wanted to keep you posted."

Brennan was afraid she'd say that. She wanted something to do so that she wouldn't have to face Booth. She didn't know why he wanted to see her, but it had sounded serious. A serious conversation wasn't something she wanted to have right now.

"Okay. I'll be in my office," she said and headed out of the autopsy room. One last look at the clock informed her that it was a quarter to twelve. There was no way she'd be able to get out of this anymore.

--

Booth entered the Medico-Legal lab and glanced at the platform. Only Zack was there, measuring a hole on the skull that he was holding.

"Hey there, Zack," he called from the bottom of the stairs. "Is Bones in her office?"

"I wouldn't know. I've been concentrating on these bullet holes," he said without looking up.

Booth left him to it and started walking toward Brennan's office. Suddenly Angela emerged from hers and walked up to him.

"Hey, handsome. What are you doing here?" she said jokingly.

"I'm just here to see Bones," he answered casually.

"Thank goodness. She's been so weird lately, like there's something bothering her. She won't tell me what it is but you could totally do that thing where you pry it out of her," Angela said, smirking.

"She's been acting weird, huh?"

"Yeah, believe me," she emphasized. "Well, I'm off to lunch. If you make any progress with her, let me know." She waved him goodbye and took off.

Booth's worry only increased because of Angela's words. He now walked briskly to Brennan's office, where said woman was sitting at her desk doing paperwork. She looked deeply concentrated, but the slightly dark rims under her eyes gave away her exhaustion.

"Still doing paperwork?"

Her head snapped up at his voice, but she only held eye contact for a second. After that she concentrated on organizing the files on the desk into piles.

"There's _always_ some paperwork to do." She threw an unnecessary post-it into the trash can. "What did you want to talk about?" she continued without missing a beat.

When Booth shut the door, Brennan knew that this wasn't going to be an easy conversation. She had decided to keep herself composed and not to blurt out anything too revealing. She had already embarrassed herself on too many occasions. A clean and detached attitude would be the best here.

Booth sighed and sat on one of the chairs in front of her desk. He decided not to beat about the bush.

"What's going on?"

Brennan knew Booth well enough to predict that question. "What do you mean?" she asked, as if not knowing what he was talking about.

"You've been so distant and evasive lately. Has something happened? With your dad? Russ?"

"No… Nothing's happened."

Booth sighed and looked down at his conjoined hands. He knew that getting the truth out of her wasn't going to be easy, but that didn't stop him from getting a bit annoyed.

"Come on, Bones. I think I know you well enough to see that something's bothering you. Even Angela's noticed."

Brennan puffed out some air. It wasn't at all surprising that they were working together to get her to 'open up'. Why did they have to care so much? That irritated her and she felt the anger rising.

"Well, maybe you have your overly active imaginations to blame."

"Oh, so we're only imagining this in our heads?"

"Obviously."

He looked at her intently. It was clear she was trying to keep a cool exterior, but he could see something flickering in her eyes. He wasn't sure what. He got up and walked to the other side of the desk, gripping the armrests of her chair so that he was leaning very close to the woman. She had a challenging look on her face.

"Don't for a second think that you can fool me, Bones," he said sternly, never leaving his eyes out of hers. "I know you."

The reason he was trying to push her off the edge was that he desperately wanted to get a reaction from her. He couldn't stand that distant attitude of hers.

Brennan felt both annoyed and thrown off by Booth's proximity. She figured that out of those two reactions, annoyance would be the best way to go. So she finally snapped. She rolled her chair back a little and stood up so that she would be on the same level with him. She couldn't help the smouldering look in her eyes.

"Back off, Booth. Don't _you_ think for a second that you can scare me into confessing something that isn't there," she said with as much venom in her voice as she could muster.

Booth raised his voice. "Don't give me that crap! There's something going on but you're just too damn stubborn to let anyone know!"

"So what? We're not partners anymore! We don't need to share everything," she yelled.

"We may not be partners anymore but we're still friends as far as I'm concerned. After all these years I'd expect you to trust me enough to tell me if there's something wrong," he said quietly but sternly.

Brennan felt like hitting something. She was at a dead end: she couldn't tell Booth about her feelings but if she didn't tell him what was going on, he would be offended. She wished he would just get it without her saying it. After taking a few deep breaths, she looked down.

"Booth…" she started. "Could we not do this now? I'm at work and I have things to do."

He noticed the resolve in her voice and realized she wasn't ready to talk yet. He was probably pushing her too hard. Feeling a little guilty, he softened his gaze. "I'll drop this now if you promise that we'll talk later today. After work." He searched for eye contact. "Hmm?"

Brennan nodded, still looking down. "Yes, okay."

He lifted her chin and looked directly into her eyes. "You'll come by my place when you're finished here?"

"Yes." She finally held eye contact with him. Booth dropped his hand from under her chin and nodded.

"I'll see you then." He walked backwards to the door and turned around to open it. Then he was gone.

Brennan stayed still for a few moments and finally settled back on her chair, wondering how her plan to keep a calm façade had gone so terribly wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay, a new chapter! But first, thanks to **_flanmaja, GGjunkie33, MadeOfStars, corik80, Tammy1234, acegrace, CSI-4077, csimesser1, PokerPrincess7 and Andromeda03_ **for reviewing the last chapter. Your reviews make me grin like an idiot, hee (especially yours did, Leah!). Okay, on with the story.**

--

At seven thirty in the evening Brennan was walking up the stairs to the third floor where Booth's apartment was. Her steps were slow and heavy. After Booth had left earlier, exhaustion had overcome her. She knew that holding back was no longer an option, if she didn't tell him now, it would eat her alive. That's why, in spite of her exhaustion, she was feeling calm. Serene even.

Finally she had made her way to Booth's place. She knocked the door softly and shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans while waiting for him to open. At least she hoped that it would be him who opened the door this time. Some rustling could be heard from inside, and after a while the door opened.

"Hey, Bones, come on in," Booth greeted.

Brennan stepped in and looked around as if she'd never been there before. She wondered if he'd go straight to the point or if he'd go through all the usual courtesies. Her question was answered quickly as he offered her a beer. She declined.

Booth sat down on the couch. "Feel free to sit down."

"No thanks, I'd rather stand," she said almost absentmindedly and slowly made her way to his bookcase, which had a couple of pictures of Parker on it. She studied them for a moment, comparing the common features of Booth and his son in her head.

Booth watched her from the couch. She seemed very peaceful, nothing like he had seen her earlier today. He had thought a lot about what had gotten her upset. If it really wasn't about Max or Russ, he figured that it maybe had something to do with their partnership being ended. He didn't want to seem selfish, but he knew that the termination of their partnership had upset her. He remembered how hard it had been for her to adjust to the new situation, even though she had never fully admitted it.

Not that it had been easy for him either. He had gone to the shooting range a little more than usual to let off some steam, and he had been somewhat bad-tempered at work. That was his coping mechanism, and distancing herself from others was most likely hers.

Brennan's voice brought him back from his musings. "You and Parker share several similar facial features."

"Well yeah, he _is_ my son after all," he pointed out teasingly. Brennan shot him a look. "Are you sure you don't want to sit down?" he continued.

"Yes," she responded firmly. Immediately she continued. "I believe you wanted me to talk about why I've been acting… how did you say it… evasive?"

He simply nodded.

"There's a reason for it," she said as she walked slowly to the window. "Well, there was no certain occurrence that caused it. It was more like a realization," she continued explaining as she peeked at the dark clouds outside. "When our partnership was terminated, I had difficulties adjusting to the situation. I assumed it was because of the change that it brought to my work day, not going to the field and staying at the lab the whole day. But, like you said that one time, I figured that I'd get used to it. However, as time went by, I often found myself distracted from my work. And that is not acceptable, considering the precision-demanding nature of my work."

Booth shifted on the couch, and she realized that she was probably boring him. She turned away from the window, toward him. She found him looking at her intently.

"Anyway… One evening I did some thinking, and I came to a realization. The reason that I had trouble working was that you weren't part of it anymore. You weren't there with me. And I often found myself missing you, since I didn't see you every day. But I didn't miss you as a friend, more as… someone more important."

Booth felt his mouth go dry. He slowly stood up from the couch and tried to form a coherent sentence in his mind, but she beat him to it.

"That was what I came here to tell you the other night, when you had that blind date. After I left here, I swore to myself that I'd just let it go and never tell you. But that proved to be more difficult than I expected, so here I am now."

Booth was stunned by the analytical tone in which she was telling him this. He wasn't even exactly sure _what_ she was telling him. He finally found his ability to speak again.

"Bones, what are you saying?"

Brennan crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm saying that I may have an interest beyond a friendly level in you," she answered calmly. "And if you're willing, I'd like to pursue that interest further." She looked at the confused look on his face and decided to clarify. "I'd like to have a relationship with you." She waited for his reaction. She had gone through several different scenarios in her head earlier, but right now she had no idea how he would respond.

"Is this about satisfying your… biological urges?" he finally managed to blurt out.

Brennan felt like she'd received a kick in the stomach. Out of all the reactions he could've had, that was the one she hadn't anticipated or even thought about. He was actually questioning her motives, her genuineness. She cast her eyes downward, but didn't move. She was surprised by the hurt she was feeling. This time she was the one at a loss of words.

Booth mentally kicked himself as soon as he had said those words. He had been so shocked by Brennan's straightforwardness that he had just blurted out the first thing that had popped up in his mind. He watched the hurt flicker in her eyes and her shoulders sag. At that moment he hated himself.

"No, Bones, I didn't mean it like-"

"Don't worry, Booth. I get it." She walked to the door without looking up at him. Just as she was gripping the door handle, she figured that at this point she had nothing to lose. Her back turned to him, she said the one thing she could think of. "This isn't about biology. I think… I think I fell in love with you when I wasn't paying attention." With that, she opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind her. Taking a deep breath, she walked away with all the dignity she could muster.

Booth still stood at the same spot in front of the couch. His head was spinning; it couldn't process all the information he had received during the last ten minutes. He kept staring at the spot where Brennan had been standing just a moment ago, confessing her love for him. This couldn't be happening. The always-rational scientist had basically admitted that love does exist after all, and he had muttered something idiotic about biological urges. Everything was upside down.

He started pacing around his living room. He kept repeating her words over and over again in his mind, trying to sort out his own thoughts. Of course he had missed her too, they'd been partners for three years before they were separated. He had grown accustomed to her anthropological ramblings, her ignorance of pop culture, her stubbornness… her everything. Now that he allowed himself to think about it, he realized how much he adored her. She was an absolutely amazing woman, and he had just driven her away. She had finally opened up, and he had betrayed that sign of trust.

He was surprised by how quickly he could catch up to his own reality once he got the chance. It was as if some light bulb had turned on above his head.

He was immensely in love with Temperance Brennan.

"I love her," he said to himself, as if making it more real by saying it out loud.

He tried to figure out what to do next. He went to the window to check if her car was still there. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't. So he grabbed his car keys and hurried out of the building to go find her and tell her everything he should've said fifteen minutes earlier.

--

"_Hey, Bren._"

"Hey, Angela." Brennan was sitting in her car that she had parked outside her apartment building. When she had arrived there, she'd realized she didn't want to go home right now. So she'd dialed her best friend's number.

"_What's up?_"

"Remember when you said that I could always come talk to you?"

"_Yeah…_" Angela waited for her to continue.

"Would right now be a bad time?"

"_No, of course not. Do you want to come over?_"

"Are you sure? You don't have any plans with Hodgins?"

She could hear Angela snort at the other end. "_I really don't. He's watching X-Files and I'm bored out of my mind. Come on over, it's been forever since we've talked!_"

"Okay. Thanks, Ange."

"_No problemo, sweetie._" With that she hung up.

Brennan started her car again and headed toward Angela's place. This was one of the very rare situations when she really needed someone to talk to. She knew that Angela was a good listener and that she would know how to handle a situation like this. Angela really was worth her weight in gold.

Twenty minutes later she drove along the very long driveway to the house. The front yard was large, so she had no difficulties parking. Unhurriedly she climbed the stairs to the door and rang the doorbell. Angela opened the door almost immediately, as if she'd been waiting for her behind it. She looked happy to see Brennan, and guided her inside impatiently.

"So, you finally decided to talk to me about what's been bothering you?" Angela walked further inside, expecting Brennan to follow her. She entered the kitchen, Brennan closely behind her.

"Yes," she answered quietly as Angela grabbed two pints of ice cream from the freezer.

"Strawberry or mint chocolate?" Angela asked as she held up the two pints.

Brennan smiled. "Strawberry."

Angela sat down on one of the high stools that surrounded the kitchen island and gestured her to do the same. Brennan sat down beside her and Angela handed her the strawberry ice cream and a spoon. While Angela was taking her first spoonful of the mint chocolate ice cream, she glanced at her friend.

"What's going on?"

"I did something foolish today," she revealed as she removed the lid of the pint.

"What?"

"I told Booth that I'd like to have a romantic relationship with him," she answered calmly, digging into the ice cream.

Angela's eyes widened, but realizing that this was a serious situation, she remained calm. She cleared her throat.

"And what did he say?"

"He thought I wanted to have sex with him."

Angela stopped in her tracks.

"He _what_??"

Brennan just shook her head.

"Are you sure we're talking about Booth here? The man who you've spent the last three years with, the one that adores you? Seeley Booth?" Angela continued with a look of disbelief on her face.

Brennan gave a small laugh. "Yes, I'm quite sure it was him."

"Well… what did you do after he said that?"

"I left." She glanced at Angela. "And… I may have said that I love him."

Angela looked at her friend sadly. "Oh, sweetie…"

"Don't feel sorry for me, Ange."

"I'm not, I just… can't believe that he hurt you like that," Angela sighed and shook her head. Brennan shrugged.

"Well, at least now I know. I've been so distracted by him the last few weeks that it has affected my work. Now I can finally go back to the way things were before and concentrate on work."

Angela studied her friend. That's what she had been afraid of when she'd heard that she wouldn't be working with Booth anymore. She had worried that Brennan would slowly distance herself from everyone and immerse herself in work again. Fortunately Booth had kept in touch with her even though they were no longer working together, and he had taken her out to eat and kept her company. But now everything was messed up again. She felt like cursing the day Seeley Booth was born.

"Bren, maybe you should talk to him again. I mean, are you sure he didn't just freak out and blurt out something he now regrets? What were his exact words?"

"He asked me if I just wanted to 'satisfy my biological urges'. Or something along those lines." She took a spoonful of ice cream. "I don't think Booth is the kind of man to blurt things out, he's usually very adept at social situations. He must have meant what he said."

Angela didn't know what to say. She felt her anger rising.

"If you want me to go bitch-slap him, just give me a word. I'd be more than happy to do that," she said half-joking.

Brennan gave a genuine laugh for the first time that evening. "I bet you would. But no thanks, I think it's best to leave him alone for now." She studied the label of the pint. "This is very good ice cream by the way."

"It's Italian. I've had like four of these in a week," she whispered conspiratorially. "Don't tell Jack."

"I won't," she promised.

An hour later Brennan was heading out. Angela was walking her to the door and trying to coax her into staying.

"Are you sure you don't want to have a couple of drinks with me? It's Friday night after all."

"Yes it is, and you should spend it with Hodgins. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Angela stuck out her bottom lip. "Fine. But promise me we'll go out next week."

"Yes, I promise." She opened the door. "Have a nice night."

Before Brennan could go, Angela leaped forward and gave her a tight hug.

"Take care, Bren."

The sudden display of emotion surprised Brennan, but she hugged her back. Then she gave the artist a small smile and disappeared through the door.

As she was walking to her car, she noticed how she was feeling a lot better than when she had arrived. She wondered if the ice cream had anything to do with it like Angela had suggested earlier. She climbed in to the driver's seat and checked her cell. No calls or messages. She tossed it on the passenger's seat and drove home.

Feeling exhausted, she decided to take the elevator in her building instead of going up the stairs. When she stepped out of the elevator in the fifth floor, the sight of Booth sitting beside her door made her stop in her tracks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here is the last chapter of this story. I have no idea if it's in any way satisfactory, but I truly hope so... :) Anyway, thanks to** _corik80, Chasefan, CSI-4077, Darcyli81, ldellis65, flanmaja, VEB.DaffodilDaisy, bonesandlys, seeleyswifey, anteffy1 and GGjunkie33_ **for reviewing the last chapter. Also a special thank you to my 'regular' reviewers, you people rock.**

--

Booth heard the elevator doors open. He wished that it would finally be her instead of one of her neighbours. He stared at the elevator for the longest time before the woman in question stepped out of it and into his view. She stopped abruptly after seeing him. He got up from the floor and brushed the dirt off his jeans with his hands.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hello."

Brennan was surprised to see him there, but she still didn't feel nervous. There was nothing to be nervous about: she had revealed her feelings and come clean, so she had nothing to lose now. That's what gave her all the courage she now had. She dug up her keys from her pocket and walked to the door.

"Bones, can I please come in? I want to talk to you," Booth pleaded as she unlocked the door.

"Sure." She stepped in and left the door open for him to enter. Shrugging off her jacket, she turned some lights on.

Booth studied her. She didn't seem angry or even hurt anymore, she was unusually calm. He closed the door and followed her into the apartment.

She went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. "You want one? I don't have any beers left."

"No, thanks," he replied from the living room area.

She shut the refrigerator door, opened her bottle and took a big gulp of the cool water. All that ice cream earlier had made her thirsty. She made her way to the living room.

Booth stood there, rubbing his hands together and trying to think of a way to begin a conversation. He was drawing a blank.

"You can sit down if you like," she said, taking a seat on the couch herself. He nodded and sat down on the armrest of her armchair. He decided to try to break the ice.

"I, uh, didn't think you'd even talk to me."

She frowned. "Why wouldn't I talk to you?"

He wondered if she really didn't understand or if she was pretending that nothing had happened. Both options sounded plausible. "Because of my reaction earlier," he explained.

"Oh." She took another sip of the water. "I don't see how that would make me not want to talk to you. It was an understandable reaction."

"No, Bones, you don't understand. It wasn't… I didn't mean to say what I said."

"You didn't?" she asked incredulously.

"No. Listen to me, Bones. I was so surprised by the things you said that I think I lost my brain functioning for a while and blurted out the first thing that came to my head."

"So the first thing you thought was that I was trying to get you into bed?" she asked, genuinely interested.

"That's not what I meant. I mean… I had no idea that you had any kind of romantic feelings toward me, so when you suddenly announced that you wanted to have a relationship with me, I thought that you meant… sexually. But only for a second. If that." He was suddenly feeling very warm.

"Huh," she said thoughtfully. "I understand."

"You do?" He got up from the armrest and moved to sit on the couch. "You understand that it wasn't my slightest intention to hurt you?"

She looked into his eyes and saw one of the reasons she loved him. Every once in a while he had that look that was full of concern and care for her. Right now that look was too much for her and she suddenly felt overwhelmed. She fixed her gaze on the water bottle and started fiddling with its label.

"Yes," she said in a low whisper. "But you did anyway."

Booth noticed her mood changing and was surprised by the sudden vulnerability. She rarely let her weaknesses show, but when she did, he was usually there to comfort her. Now he didn't have that right. He watched her finger the bottle cap.

"I know. I'm sorry," he said with every ounce of sincerity he had in him.

"I know you are." They fell into silence, Brennan deep in thought and Booth trying to come up with something to say. A couple of minutes went by before Booth broke the silence.

"Did you mean it?"

She looked up at him. "What?"

"When you left. You said you loved me."

"I'm not an expert on the subject," she started as she got up from the couch and walked over to the bookcase. She had noticed that some of the books weren't in alphabetical order so she started to rearrange them. "But I thought about you and me, everything that we've been through, and my feelings for you. I came to the conclusion that it's quite possibly what people refer to as 'love'. But don't feel bad for not reciprocating my feelings. The reason I told you was mostly about getting some peace of mind, I wasn't expecting you to return the feeling."

He too got up from the couch and walked over to her. He stilled her hands that were stuffing a book in between the other books, and got her attention.

"I do. Return the feeling."

She frowned. "What?"

"I have no idea how it happened, but somehow you charmed me into loving you."

Brennan was now completely and utterly confused. A couple of hours earlier he had barely gotten a word out his mouth after her speech and now he was openly telling her that he loved her? She could never figure out this man.

"Are you just playing with me? Because I won't have that," she said crossing her arms.

Now it was he who frowned. "What? Why would you think that?"

"Because you're being inconsistent! I have a very hard time following your thoughts."

He heard the agitation in her voice. "Bones, listen to me. This is the truth, right here. I would never lead you on, you mean too much to me for that. If there was a list of the people most important to me, you would go very, very high. At the top." He still saw a hint of doubt in her eyes. "You have to believe me."

She contemplated for a moment, all the while looking into his eyes. She saw the sincerity there. "I believe you."

"Good."

She broke eye contact and looked down at her feet. "So… you love me?"

He smiled at her uneasiness. "Yeah."

She looked back up. "Why? Most of the time I just drive you crazy."

"Well yeah, you can be quite a challenge," he smirked. "But you know, Bones… If I start to list all the reasons I love you, we're going to be here well into the morning."

Brennan laughed and shook her head. "Wow. That was… incredibly cheesy."

"Hey… You asked for it," he said and smacked her playfully on her arm.

She went to the coffee table to have a drink of water, her smile never ceasing. "So. What do we do now?" she asked after she had taken a sip of water.

He put his hands in his pockets. "I'm not sure. Take one step at a time?"

"I don't know what that means."

"It means that we take things slowly. I don't think we're in any rush. I mean, it _did_ take us three years to get here." He looked outside the window. "That is, if you really want to have a relationship with me," he added as an afterthought.

"I do," she said almost shyly. "And I think slow sounds good."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

They just stood there smiling at each other, happy to have reached a mutual understanding.

After a while Brennan started feeling foolish. "Booth, can we do something? The silence is unnerving me."

He nodded his head in understanding. "Sure. Are you hungry?"

"Not really. I had some ice cream earlier," she explained. "But I wouldn't say no to a cup of coffee."

"Well let's get going then," he said and walked casually toward the door. Brennan immediately understood where they were going and followed him closely behind. Just as he reached the door, he turned around, slowly placed his hand on the spot where her face meets her neck and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. He gave her time to respond, and when she did, he pulled away. He watched the blush creep up her neck and fiddled with a strand of her hair.

"Sorry. I had to do that."

She smiled brightly at him. "Consider yourself forgiven."

He mirrored her smile and turned around to open the door. They both stepped outside and felt their hearts thumping, eager to see where this would lead them. And while they walked toward the elevator, his hand found hers.

--

**The End.**


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